As most of you already know, Denise Crosby (a.k.a. the actress that played Lt. Tasha Yar on TNG) created the character of Sela and convinced TPTB to incorporate Sela in TNG episodes. It seems to me that Denise Crosby could have also convinced TPTB to have Sela appear on DS9 as well, especially during the Dominion War episodes. Has anyone ever heard anything about this? Of course, you could say that Sela lost her standing in the Empire as a result of the snafu seen in UnificationII. Perhaps she was sent to jail (or executed) as a result of her failures in that episode.

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I remember hearing rumors that she advocated for some sort of role during the Dominion War. She also tried to get a part in Nemesis. I don't know much more than that, though.

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Wow, I never knew that she tried to get Sela a part in Nemesis. There was a way for her to be in the movie and to satisfy all of those that don't like Sela... they could have put her in the Senate room to be assassinated with all of the Senators! I'm not saying they had to make her a Senator, but she could have been giving a mlitary report to them or in a role a post-Unification demoted guard!

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To be honest, I always liked Sela. Don't get me wrong, the character isn't perfect, but I kinda always liked Sela (despite the fact that it's her fault that her mom is dead & the fact that she hates humans because of her mommy issues). Yesterday's Enterprise is my favorite TNG episode and therefore I found the idea of Sela interesting.

Just had another thought about a potential Sela scene. They could have given her a brief cameo during the Dominion War during one of the huge battle scenes. We could have seen her briefly on the viewscreen talking to Sisko or just heard her voice over the Comm before her ship was destroyed by the Dominion!

To be honest, I always liked Sela. Don't get me wrong, the character isn't perfect, but I kinda always liked Sela (despite the fact that it's her fault that her mom is dead & the fact that she hates humans because of her mommy issues). Yesterday's Enterprise is my favorite TNG episode and therefore I found the idea of Sela interesting.

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Sela? In a manner of speaking she apparently encouraged Ron Moore and David Carson to relocate events of "Yesterday's Enterprise" into a parallel universe (instead of just a changed time line). But it's obviously not a popular idea if you check out reactions in the corresponding Enterprise-C threads ("TNG" and "fan art").

I found the character interesting. When she first shows up on the Enterprise-D in "Redemption II" she is all cocky and snippy. But then she talks about her mother and suddenly she becomes insecure and nervous (great acting by Denise Crosby, IMHO). And then she claims that all the humanity in her has vanished, but Picard reacts with a sympathetic smile.

I for one would have liked to see more of her and additional interaction with humans. She was quite the opposite of Spock - him trying to get in touch with his human half, she trying to get rid of it. Plenty of story potential we unfortunately never saw realized.

I bet when Denise heard about the MU episodes of DS9, she thought, "aw man...why didn't I think of that for me during the TNG years?!"

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That would have been interesting to see Denise & the rest of the TNG cast in a MU episode. I know there are TNG MU books, but episodes would have been fun too. As a matter of fact, it would have been neat to have seen some TNG characters (even a minor character like Barclay) in some of the DS9 MU episodes. Kinda like they did with Mirror Tuvok!

The Next Generation is a Thinking Man's STAR TREK. And avoiding the Mirror Universe and all of its cheesiness was most easily achieved. It also helped give it its own identity, in a way. No ... it's best that TNG never embarked on such a venture. The Next Generation has class ... style ... and sophistocation. And really, isn't that just the way we like it?

^^ Well, that's the way I like it, too. Just read an older and long interview with Ronald Moore where he was lamenting that they had to circumvent Gene Roddenberry's "flawless mankind of the future" rule with ingenuity, because both Michael Piller and Rick Berman had been upholding this.

Frankly, having seen nuBSG, I think Roddenberry was a fox, expecting the TNG writers to circumvent his rule but at least trying to accomplish the best results doing so.

^^ Well, that's the way I like it, too. Just read an older and long interview with Ronald Moore where he was lamenting that they had to circumvent Gene Roddenberry's "flawless mankind of the future" rule with ingenuity, because both Michael Piller and Rick Berman had been upholding this.

Frankly, having seen nuBSG, I think Roddenberry was a fox, expecting the TNG writers to circumvent his rule but at least trying to accomplish the best results doing so.

She may have made the wrong choice, but Michael Dorn should be sending her a Thank You card every year.

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Can you imagine Tasha Yar on DS9 instead of Worf?

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I actually think Tasha would have fit well on the DS9 island of misfit officers. But her character may have been too similar to Kira's for her to exist there.

Worf was originally supposed to just be a background character, like O'Brien. He wasn't even in the original season 1 TNG promo shots. Roddenberry didn't even want to use any TOS aliens (hence no Vulcans). Denise Crosby leaving TNG opened up a spot for him allowed his character to become what it did.

Never - OK? - NEVER tell your employer that you're not satisfied working there. Alright? Never let those words escape your lips. Swallow hard and choke them down. Whatever it is you have to do. But don't ever give such sentiments utterance ... not even on your personal site!

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I kinda disagree with this sentiment, at least in this context. Crosby's primary complaint was that Yar didn't have much to do, so she quit. But as the show went on, people with fewer or similar amount of material like Worf and Troi started to get more exposure, so I take that to mean that the powers that be took those complaints to heart. Maybe she could have handled it differently sure, but voicing a disagreement properly can help bring positive change. Also, if there was any bad blood lingering, it didn't last long, or else Crosby never would have been invited back multiple times, nor would her character be referenced from time to time.

Now, whatever happened to Crosby after TNG is on her. I recall that she had a somewhat steady stream of work in various TV shows and b-movies, and then the work started to dry up. I am happy, though, that she's now a recurring character on the Walking Dead. But for Trek, perhaps her big mistake was voicing her concerns and then quitting, rather than voicing her concerns and waiting till the end of the season to see the outcome -- definitely a youthful mistake in the professional world. But I say that with the privilege of hindsight, too -- nobody was sure that TNG would survive, much less become the legend that it is today. Even Patrick Stewart didn't unpack his suitcase for weeks in case the show got cancelled and he needed to fly back to the UK.

TBH I never thought that Tasha was similar to Kira. Sure, they had a hard upbringing, but so did lots of other Trek characters.

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Yar and Kira's (heck even Ro Laren and B'Elanna Torres') characters have the same stereotypical "tough girl" trope. Cut her hair short, give her a rough childhood so that she trusts no one. Even better if you can pair her with another woman that's the exact opposite. Give her a distrust of authority, but a strong male commander to remind her of her place. As time progresses, let her hair get longer and then make her fall in love to show her what being a woman is really about. Bonus points if she gets pregnant. Character archetyping at its finest. Yar would have fit in on DS9, but she and Kira would have been filling the same niche (same as if Ro was on DS9 with Kira).

TBH I never thought that Tasha was similar to Kira. Sure, they had a hard upbringing, but so did lots of other Trek characters.

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Yar and Kira's (heck even Ro Laren and B'Elanna Torres') characters have the same stereotypical "tough girl" trope. Cut her hair short, give her a rough childhood so that she trusts no one. Even better if you can pair her with another woman that's the exact opposite. Give her a distrust of authority, but a strong male commander to remind her of her place. As time progresses, let her hair get longer and then make her fall in love to show her what being a woman is really about. Bonus points if she gets pregnant. Character archetyping at its finest. Yar would have fit in on DS9, but she and Kira would have been filling the same niche (same as if Ro was on DS9 with Kira).